Role of mobile phone-enabled climate information services in gender-inclusive agriculture

Abstract

The mobile phone-enabled information delivery mechanism has the potential to reduce the knowledge gap between large and small farmers, and also across gender by creating awareness about new technologies and best practices. This article focuses on how access to information through the mobile phone makes women feel empowered if they are receptive to the information they receive. It also seeks to find out the type of information most valuable to women. This was done by analyzing the listening behavior of farmers, both men and women, to information provided by mobile phones. This study was undertaken in the selected villages in two states of India—Haryana and Bihar. The findings of the study show that information delivered through mobile phones under this pilot project contributed towards reducing information asymmetry among farmers, in general, and between women and men farmers. The listening rate of women farmers was equivalent to that of men farmers. Participating farmers reported that precise and timely weather-based agro-advisory messages helped them in taking informed decisions about input use, thus leading to savings on irrigation and reducing the cost of other inputs such as pesticides and fertilizers. Women farmers also said that agro-advisory messaging helped them make more efficient use of inputs by increasing their knowledge about climate-smart technologies.